Khalsa Supplementary School (Punjabi Language School)
About the School
Established in 1988, the Khalsa Supplementary School is SCYS's longest-running provision and one of the longest-established community supplementary schools in the East Midlands. Every Thursday during term time, from 6pm to 8:30pm, children aged 5 and above gather at Djanogly School in Nottingham to learn the Punjabi language and explore their Sikh cultural heritage.
The school provides structured teaching in Punjabi reading, writing and conversation, alongside introductions to Sikh history, values and traditions. For many pupils, this is the only opportunity they have to develop formal literacy in their heritage language, a skill that is vital for intergenerational communication, cultural identity and personal wellbeing.
The school welcomes pupils from across all backgrounds. Whilst most come from Punjabi-speaking families, we have also taught pupils with no Punjabi background at all, reflecting our commitment to inclusion and our belief that language and culture should be open to anyone with the curiosity to learn.
Tuition is affordable and accessible, ensuring that language and cultural education is not a privilege but a right available to all families in our community.
Our Impact
The Khalsa Supplementary School has been a cornerstone of SCYS's work since our earliest days. For nearly four decades, it has played a vital role in helping children and young people maintain a living connection with their linguistic and cultural roots, a connection that is increasingly at risk as communities integrate into the wider British mainstream.
Research consistently demonstrates that children who maintain fluency in their heritage language show greater academic achievement, stronger family bonds and higher levels of self-esteem and cultural confidence. By providing accessible, high-quality supplementary education, SCYS is helping to preserve the linguistic and cultural heritage of Nottingham's Sikh and Punjabi-speaking community for future generations. Our pupils' GCSE Punjabi results place us among the best-performing supplementary schools nationally, a reflection of the quality and consistency of our teaching over many years.
The school also serves an important intergenerational function. Grandparents and parents who speak Punjabi as a first or primary language are able to communicate more deeply with their children and grandchildren when those children have been given the tools to engage. This reduces isolation among older community members and strengthens family relationships across the generations, outcomes that are difficult to achieve through mainstream service provision alone.
Beyond language, the school instils values of community, service and respect that are central to the Sikh tradition. Pupils gain not only a linguistic skill but a cultural grounding that supports positive identity formation during childhood and adolescence, a protective factor that research links to improved long-term mental health and resilience.
With around 50 children attending each week across the academic year, the Khalsa Supplementary School has a substantial and sustained reach. It is a provision that the community relies upon, trusts deeply, and could not easily replicate through any other means.